Kathy's Thoughts

Sakuracon - Japanese Anime Convention in Seattle

Kathy — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:31:50 -0700

In having a 12 year old boy, sometimes you have to endure what you really don't want to. In this case, I was dragged to Seattle to attend a three day convention of nerds, costumes, rock concerts, and fandom in the form of Sakura-con, an anime convention with over 14,000 people.

Calvin likes Link (from Zelda), and so naturally he dressed as the character. Remember, this is not an ordinary Link costume - it is TOON Link!

He made his own shield which was unfortunately lost:

At the convention, almost everyone dressed up as a character:

Even the stuffed animals:

Vonics VOIP Sucks - I Want my Sunrocket Back!

Kathy — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:51:26 -0700

For the past few days we are, again, not receiving phone calls that connect. I answer the phone and the person on the other end just gets disconnected. Plus over the past 2 days I have not been able to make calls without getting many busy signals - yet they are not really busy as it was several different numbers - all that had answering services.

I am looking for another phone system that is somewhat reliable. Vonics is quite bad. I'd rather pay more and get reliable service. Any suggestions?

Quit My Job

Kathy — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:47:12 -0700

I've worked for the Oregon University System for almost 12 years. I finally quit in January. We were able to sell the boyfriend's house and pay off my mortgage so we have no house payments. I live in a (used to be) rat infested house so it is not fancy - about 900 sq ft. But not having the payment freed me up to quit my job and finish my elementary teacher certification program at Western Governor's University. This is a distance ed school based in Salt Lake City.

The first month felt like I was skipping work. I actually felt like I was cheating my workplace by not going in. Looking down the streets, I would look for my old boss afraid I would get in trouble. These little moments of panic soon subsided. Trying to lose weight, I started walking my dog each morning for an hour - pure bliss. It's nice to enjoy your surroundings and have time to think.

I have a couple weeks left now of WGU. With one test left and 10 papers, I will complete the academic portion. In August/September I will start demonstration teaching (student teaching) somewhere in Corvallis. The school has not been set yet.

Iraq - the US version of Soviet Afgan War?

Kathy — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:12:23 -0700

I studied up a little on the Soviet Afgan war that took place from 1979 to 1988. Almost 10 years and they lost 14,000 soldiers with 10,000 seriously injured and 415,000 which got sick from bad conditions. These numbers seem close to ours. We have almost 4,000 dead but probably more so if you consider those that died from natural conditions, accident, and suicide. Also, they had far less seriously wounded, we have more. Remember, I am comparing 1/2 of the Soviet war to the US-Iraq war over the past 5 years. The conditions are better for our soldiers but they are estimating that tens of thousands will suffer from PTSD in the future.

It seems our troop rotation might be on a longer period as the Soviets had over 600,000 troops over the 9 year period. I don't remember the exact number but I think the US has sent about 400,000 troops over to the area over the past 5 years.

Lastly, the Soviets never had more than 105,000 troops occupying one country. We currently have 180,000 spread all over the place.

The Corvallis Clinic - incompetent or rip off artists?

Kathy — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:29:29 -0800

I have avoided the Corvallis Clinic until my doctor moved. Now I'm with them. The doctor, Dr. Barrett, is great. The behemoth corporation he works for is not. I've seen a doctor 3 times in like 12 years. One of them was after I gave birth. I've seen a nurse practitioner for the "annual" pap smear - which I guess is now every 3 years.

The newest thing? The idiots send out a bill directly to you - BEFORE billing insurance. I called their number, gave my name and account number. I am not in the greatest of moods. I ask the lady, it is my job to bill the insurance? It was pretty obvious the insurance was not billed as their balance was $0 and mine was the entire amount.

No, was the answer. We billed very quickly after the lab. Really? No duh. Just ignore the bill.

Well I'm glad I have time to call them and follow up. If only I were older and had a health problem that kept me from calling to follow up. Wow, they may have actually received a check in the mail from both the patient and the insurance company - once they got around to billing the insurance company, that is.

Kitchen Finished

Kathy — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 05:59:55 -0800

With the finishing and installation of the upper cabinets and bar area, the kitchen is finally done.

Here is the before:

Here is the after:

The Mighty Sequoia's Fall

Kathy — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:49:47 -0800

When I bought the house, the tiny 50 x 100 lot contained 3 very large redwoods. The first to go was the one planted right next to the garage.

That was four years ago. Sure made my house look tiny (which it is).

Upper Cabinet Started for Kitchen

Kathy — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:40:25 -0700

Apparently, cabinets are not that hard to make if you have a good design and decent equipment. We just purchased some Bessey Cabinet Clamps to help with the doors. They just came the other day and look extremely easy to use, flexible, and handy. We look forward to adding drawers and doors - after staining and polyurethaning the cabinets.

Right now, the upper cabinet have been temporarily installed to ensure fit:

They will then come down and get finished.

Free Stuff on My Corner

Kathy — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:02:36 -0700

Over the past year I've been "thinning the herd" at the old homestead. By herd, I mean junk, stuff, things I don't need or use, crap, nicknaks, clutter, and in some cases, garbage.

I've put out some common items: post it notes, sticky labels, stuffed toys, wood, bricks, pictures, paintings, cleaning supplies, and lots of extra computer parts. Some uncommon items given away: complete swing set, cementing strips to put between slabs of cement, floor register, cleaning supplies, electric drill, and skill saw. One time we put a huge horizontal band saw in the back of our truck with a free sign on it. It was gone. I don't think I've had anything not go away within 2 days. Ever.

I was at it again yesterday. We put out a whole bunch of scrap wood that had been stored in the garage. It would never be used. My boyfriend wanted to throw it in the garbage. Why? I asked him, Let's just give it away at the corner. Within 2 minutes, 2 cars were angling for parking. By the next day, I got this note:

Kitchen Progress

Kathy — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 10:02:12 -0700

This is part of the story of how a kitchen got redone. There are many ways to skin a cat, this is just one of those. At this point (this page will be updated as more gets done), we have some things we would change to make the installation easier but they are all pretty small changes that would have the same result.

The kitchen is a 9 foot by 11 foot three sided open room. It had blue painted metal cabinets. I was extremely excited to remove the cabinets for recycling (I may have danced a little jig).

After a lot of hard work, the results were worth it:

A nice doodle on the wall helped me prepare for the idea that everything will go.

We tore up the flooring because it needed more structure underneath.